Healthy Japanese Recipes

Versatile miso (fermented soybean paste) keeps for months in the refrigerator and adds instant flavor to soups, sauces, dips, marinades and salad dressings. In general, the lighter the miso, the milder and sweeter its flavor. Light miso is the key to the wonderful flavor of this salmon.

One bite of this healthy stir-fry recipe and you'll start thinking about what else you can stir miso butter into. Spread the miso butter on roast chicken or toss it with steamed vegetables. Serve with rice noodles or brown rice.

This healthy bento box idea makes it easy, healthy and affordable to have sushi for lunch as often as you'd like! Skip the rolling and place sushi ingredients like rice, shrimp and avocado in a bento for a packable lunch for work.

Yakitori--chicken skewers common in Japan--get a thick soy glaze before and after grilling for maximum flavor in this healthy dinner recipe. Double or triple the recipe for a fun party appetizer. Serve with steamed short-grain brown rice or over rice noodles drizzled with the extra sauce.

Powdered green tea blended with sweet whipped cream is a popular parfait topping in Japan, particularly in Kyoto. Here the cream is lightened with low-fat yogurt cheese to make a pretty and delicious topping for poached pears and other desserts.

In this healthy fried rice recipe, shrimp, eggplant and edamame are tossed with tangy Japanese ponzu sauce for a delicious one-bowl dinner. If you don't have leftover cooked rice on hand, be sure to thoroughly cool your rice before adding it to the wok--if it's too warm, it creates too much steam and sticks to the wok. To quickly cool warm rice, spread out on a large baking sheet and refrigerate while you prep the rest of your ingredients, about 15 minutes.

Sirloin steak, soba noodles (Japanese buckwheat noodles) and shredded carrots make this healthy, sesame-soy steak salad recipe a sophisticated, easy dinner any night of the week.

This Japanese recipe for beef negimaki rolls (in which beef flavored with teriyaki sauce is wrapped around scallions) includes asparagus as well for extra vegetables.

Roasted eggplant makes a creamy sauce that coats pasta quite nicely. Soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles) add a lovely nutty flavor to the dish, but you can also use linguine.

Kakiage, which means "gathered and deep-fried" in Japanese, is a tempura made with sliced vegetables and sometimes seafood. This light and crispy tempura combines shrimp, onions, carrots and herbs and looks similar to a fritter. I serve it with sea salt and lemon wedges or with soy sauce, with rice and pickles on the side and fruit for dessert. Read more about this tempura recipe.

Flank steak takes on savory Asian flavors with this quick steak marinade recipe. We like buckwheat soba noodles for their nutty flavor but any noodle, such as rice noodles or spaghetti, works well too.

Bring out the flavors of salmon with a Japanese-inspired infusion of ginger, sesame oil and wasabi. If you serve these patties on whole-wheat buns, consider reduced-fat mayonnaise and sliced cucumbers as condiments. Or skip the buns and set the patties atop a vinegary salad of greens, carrots, radishes and sprouts.

Chicken meatballs called tsukune are a Japanese-restaurant favorite--they're essentially a chicken sausage mixture flavored with garlic and ginger. Use flat sword-shaped skewers instead of traditional round bamboo skewers to keep the meatballs from slipping when you try to turn them. Serve with bowls of steamed rice on the side.

This healthy edamame recipe is a classic Japanese preparation. Enjoy these nibbles as an appetizer or healthy snack.

Ramen gets a healthy makeover in this “spiralized” vegetable noodle recipe. We swap noodles made from mild turnips for ramen noodles, but other vegetables, such as zucchini or yellow squash, would also make noodles perfect for this Asian-inspired recipe. Serve with sriracha hot sauce for a kick.

The round, rich taste (also known as umami) of miso soup perfectly complements plump, briny clams. For the base of the soup you can use just water and miso, which you can find at most supermarkets. But if you can find dashi granules, they're worth adding for a more intense umami taste.

Skip the rice and just use seaweed to make these healthy sushi rolls filled with smoked salmon, avocado, carrot and cucumber. Serve with soy sauce for dipping.

This quick, healthy dinner salad recipe is ready in 40 minutes thanks to preshredded carrots and coleslaw mix. If you have leftover quinoa, skip Step 1 and use 2 cups in the salad. If you want a bigger flavor kick in the dressing, up the wasabi powder to 1 tablespoon.

Mild-flavored spaghetti squash is a great swap for noodles, but here it's showcased on its own dressed with a healthy dressing spiked with salty miso. Serve with roasted chicken or fish.

Not only is this show-stopping dish beautiful, it also contains all the protein, carbs and vegetables needed for a complete meal. And the fact that it only requires 20 minutes of hands-on time means that you can make this slow-cooker ramen anytime.

Asian flavors unite in perfect harmony in this tangy marinade.

Tataki is a typical Japanese preparation in which beef or fish is seared on the outside, left very rare inside, thinly sliced and served with a citrusy soy sauce. In this version, a springy salad of crisp radishes and carrot matchsticks combined with sliced onion provides textural contrast to the flavorful steak. Serve this dish over a bed of buckwheat soba noodles to make it a meal.

Making your own pickled ginger is easy and delicious. Pickled ginger is served as a palate cleanser between sushi courses. This pickled ginger recipe has no added dyes, unlike store-bought pickled ginger, which often contains food dye.

Sweet miso, rice wine and soy sauce infuse halibut with a rich Asian flavor. Thin slices of nori and scallions are a pretty garnish. Make it a meal: Add Cold Soba Noodles and Cucumber Salad for a light summer supper.